Platen for address-printers and the like.



J. S. DUNCAN.

PLATEN FOR ADDRESS PRINTERS AND THE LIKE.

- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28.1915.

1,209,416. D Patented De0.19,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

[III/ Ilium J. S. DUNCAN.

PLATEN FOR ADDRESS PRINTERS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28,1915.

Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- awn snares manna oration.

JOSEPH S. DUNCANQOF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ADDRESSOGRAPHCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PLATEN FOR ADDRESS-PRINTERS AND THE LIKE.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 11%16.

Application filed June 28, 1915. Serial No. 36,694.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH S. DUNCAN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Platens for Address- Printers and the like, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to platens for printing machines and moreparticularly to a multi-faced platen, especially adapted for use withaddress printers, although obviously applicable to other printingmachines where it is desirable to accomplish a result similar to thatabout to be described.

Address printing devices generally carry, in addition to the name andaddress of an individual, the proper Salutation to be used in filling inletters, as well as other data and classification marks which are to beprinted on, certain classes of matter. For example, in'addressing anenvelop, only the name and address of the individual should be printed;in filling in a letter, the salutation should also be printed; inprinting certain kinds of statements, the name, address and certainadditional data should be printed but the Salutation omitted, and inprinting an index card, which is usually attached to the print ingdevice, all of the information on the printing device should be printed.

Address printers and similar machines, as previously constructed, havebeen generally provided with a single platen, so that it has beenimpossible to rapidly print at will various combinations of the items ofinformation appearing on a single printing device.

It is the object of my invention to provide means, whereby a pluralityof platens, which may present surfaces of varying area and relativeposition, may be used in connection with address printers and similarmachines, the desired platen being selectively and quickly movable 'tooperative position and the inoperative platens being so disposed as notto interfere with the operation of the machine.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent as it isbetter understood by reference to the following specification when readin connection with the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation partially in section illustrating an address printer equippedwith my improved platen; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section onthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2;Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa printing device, showing the arrangement of the address and otherinformation thereon, and Figs. 6,7, 8 and 9 are plan views of theseparate faces of the platen, illustrating the manner .of cutting theplaten faces to present surfaces of varying area and relative position,particularly with reference to the printing device shown in Fig. 5, sothat only the desired portions of the information carried by theprinting device will be printed.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the platen arm of an addressprinter which in the present instance is illustrated as pivotallymounted at 2 on a base 3, it being understood, however, that this ismerely illustrative and that the platen which forms the subject-matterof my invention may be supported in any suitable manner. A bed 4: isillustrated which supports the printing device 5 beneath a ribbon 6,serving to transfer an impression from a printing device 5 to theimpression-receiving material when the latter is disposed above theribbon 6 and the platen is caused to descend and strike animpression-forming blow thereon.

Secured in any suitable manner to the platen arm 1 is a supporting headZ, provided with oppositely disposed bearings-'8 adapted to receive theends of the shaft'9. The bearings 8 are semi-circular in form, as

. clearly shown in Fig. 3, and on either side thereof the head 7 isprovided with guide members 10, so that the shaft may move outwardlyfrom the bearings 8, but will be maintained in proper alinementtherewith. Disposed within suitable openings 11 in the head 7 are a pairof springs 12, one end 13 of each of which is disposed about the shaft 9while the other ends 14 are secured to'suitable members 15 seated in theends of the for f'the operator.

openings 11. The springs 12 are normally under tension and maintain theshaft 9 in close engagement with the bearings S.

Secured to the shaft 9 is a rectangular platen ,member 16, provided witha plurality of resilient faces 17, preferably of rubber, which may becut,'as will presently be described, to present surfaces of varying areaand relative position. Secured to the end of the shaft 9 is a knurledbutton 9, whereby the shaft may be manually rotated,

carrying with it the platen member 16. The

frame 7 is provided with shoulders 19, which. cooperate with the facesof the platen member 16 to maintain it in proper relation to the frameand to take up the thrust when the platen is moved into printingposition. The corners 20 of the platen member 16 are slightly roundedand act as cams to force the shaft 9 away from the bearings 8 when theshaft is rotated to place a new platen. face in operative position. Eachside of the platen member 16, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing,is provided with two resilient faces, the shorter face 18 at the left ofthe figure being intended to cooperate with a separate printing device(not shown) which may bear a date or other information. It is to beunderstood that this portion of the platen may be omitted if desired.

Referring to Fig. 5 of the drawing, 21 indicates a metal base adapted toreceive a metal printing plate 22 having printing characters forced upfrom the body of the metal. The base 21 is also provided with means toretain a card 23 upon which has been printed the matter carried by theprinting plate 22 and which serves as an index The particular form ofprinting device described is one well-known in the art and isillustrative merely of a class of printing devices of-which there aremany well-known forms. The printing device forms no part of my presentinvention but is illustrated in order that the operation of my improvedplaten may be clear.-

As will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 5 the printing devicecarries the name and address of an individual, the Salutation, certaindata illustrated in the upper left hand corner of the figure and theindex reference X shown at the right in the figure. To print all of theinformation carried by the printing device a platen of full size isrequired and hence one of the resilient faces of the platen member 16may remain uncut, as shown at 17 in Fig. 6. To fill in a letter it isdesirable to eliminate all of the matter other than the name, addressand salutation, and hence another face of the platen member 16 is cut,as indicated at 17 in Fig. 7, the portions in dotted lines beingremoved. To print certain classes of notices it is desirable to printthe name, address and the information shown in the upper left handcorner of Fig. 5 but omitting the Salutation and for this purpose one ofthe faces of the platen member 16 is cut as indicated at 17 in Fig. 8,the portions outside the full lines being removed. Finally to print anenvelop it is desirable to print. only the name and address and one ofthe faces 17 of the platen member 16 is cut as indicated at 17 in Fig.9. It will be seen, therefore, that by rotating the shaft 9 by means ofthe button 9 it is possible to present platen faces having surfaces 'ofvarying area and relative position. This provides material advantages,since I am enabled to rapidly change the character of the platen to'print selected portions of the matter on the printing device and hence aprinting machine equipped with my platen has a much wider range of usethan a machine provided with but a single platen and requiring separateprinting devices to print different classes of matter. The position ofthe data on the printing device may obviously be varied to meet theindividual needs of the user and it is to be understood that the platenfaces shown in Figs. 6 to 9 are illustrative merely and may be varied=inaccordance with the character of the matter carried by the printingdevice.

It will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form,construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its materialadvantages, the foi'in hereinbefore described being merely a preferredembodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A platen for address printers and the like, comprising a rigidsupporting head. bearings therein, a shaft rotatably mounted on saidbearings and movable with respect to said head, resilient means tomaintain said shaft in engagementv with said bearings, a member securedto said shaft and. provided with a plurality of resilient faces, andmeans for rotating said shaft to selectively place one of said faces-inoperative position.

2. A platen for address printers and the like, comprising a rigidsupporting head, bearings therein, elongated guide members at eitherside of each of said bearings, a shaft rotatably mountedin said bearingsand movable therefrom between said guide members, springs normallymaintaining said shaft in engagement with said bearings, a membersecured to said shaft and having a plurality of resilient faces, andmeans for rotating said shaft to selectively place one of said faces inoperative position.

3. A platen for address printers and the like, comprising a rigidsupporting head, bearings therein, elongated guide members at eitherside of each of said bearings, a

shaft rota-tably mounted in said bearings and movable therefrom betweensaid guide members, springs to in 5 gu ing normally maintain said shaftengagement with sand bearlngs, a rectanlar member secured to said shaftand havapt-ed to be so cut as to present surfaces a plurality ofresilient faces, each of varying area and relative position, and meansfor rotating said shaft to selectlvely place one of said faces inoperative posi-

